social policies

• social policy

  plans, actions, laws put in place by the government which are created to try and improve society
• Worsley - against sociology informing policy

  • sociology is not always connected to social issues
  • therefore does not need to inform social policy
  • argues sociologists only research sociological problems as they simply wish to make sense of it
  • their only goal is to discover knowledge not solve social problems
• brewer - for sociology informing social policy

  argued sociology should address social problems and construct social policy
• positivists and functionalists

  • argue sociologists role is to provide the state with objective, scientific information
  • sociologists similar to medical researchers so social problems must be investigated scientifically which helps the base of policies
  • they see the state as serving the interests of society and implement rational social policies
  • e.g state have enabled to create many educational policies promoting equal opportunities allowing for social mobility
• functionalists

  in favour of piecemeal social engineering

  they favour a cautious approach to policy making, tackling one specific issue at a time
• social democratic approach

  • agree with marxists
  • favours major redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor
  • however have a more positive view and argue the gov have created many policies to reduce inequality
  • e.g the black report 1980
• townsend - social democrat

  • adopted the social democratic perspective
  • argue that sociologists should be involved in researching social problems and making policies
  • conducted research on poverty - made recommendation for policies such as higher benefit levels
• Durkheim 


  • purpose of sociology is to be able to analyse social issues and provide solutions
  • favoured policies in promoting traditional values as enabled to maintain structure of society, keep society functioning smoothly and harmoniously
• marxists


  suspicious of the role of the state in maintaining the status of elites

  purpose of laws is to protect the ruling class
• Worsley - social problem

  ‘a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and/or private misery and calls for collective action to solve it’.
• factors affecting whether sociological research succeeds in influencing policy

  • electoral popularity
  • ideological and policy preferences of governments
  • interest groups
  • cost
  • funding sources
  • globalisation
  • critical sociology
• electoral popularity 


  if the policy based on recommended research findings are popular with the public
• ideological and policy preferences of the government

  • If the researcher’s value-stance or perspective is similar to the government (e.g new right and conservatives)
• interest groups

  • pressure groups that seek to influence governments policies
  • e.g prison reform trust created many campaigns pressuring government for reform of penal system
• globalisation

  • International organisations such as the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may influence the social policies of individual governments. 
  • e.g IMF’s ‘structural adjustment programmes’ have required less developed countries to introduce fees for education and health care as a condition for aid
• critical sociology

  • critical sociologists such as marxists and feminists may be regarded as too extreme by policy makers
  • therefore unlikely to influence policy
• cost

  • government may not have sufficient fund to implement sociologists research into policies
  • e.g thatcher refused to implement recommendations of the black report due to costs
• funding sources

  • sociologists may tone down their findings and policy recommendations so as to fit in with their paymasters’ wishes
  • policymakers may recruit sociologists who share their assumptions and political values.
  • research findings are then used to justify what policy makers intended to do
  • e.g research institutions often have political stances - social justice policy group have conservative stance
• burden

  • sociological research is only one possible element in shaping social policy
  • policy is the result of a political decision by those in power
  • argues what counts as a social problem is through political debate
• criticisms of piecemeal social engineering

  • cherrypicks issues - focuses more on certain issues than others
  • solves more specific problems than the bigger picture
  • e.g Marxists argue that educational policies aimed at equalising opportunity for children of different classes are often defeated by the influence of poverty in wider society.
  • therefore we need to change the basic structure of society to solve specific problems
• the black report 1980

  • report on class inequalities in health
  • made 37 policy recommendations for reducing inequality
  • e.g free school meals, improved working conditions, more spending to improve housing
  • originally commissioned by labour government
  • completed in 1980 - when thatcher was in power
  • conservative government refused to implement the reports recommendations due to "cost"
• liberal feminists

  • march of progress view
  • Feminist research has had an impact in a number of policy areas.
  • For example, in education, it has influenced policies such as learning materials that promote more positive images of females and training to sensitise teachers to the need to avoid gender bias.
  • reflect the liberal feminist view that anti-discrimination reforms will ultimately bring about gender equality.
  • e.g equal pay act, employment protection act, maternity and paternity policies
• radical feminists - separatism

  • Radical feminists regard men as the direct oppressors of women, especially through the family. 
  • favour separatism - idea that women need to separate themselves from men
  • e.g refuges for women escaping domestic violence - women's aid federation
• new right

  • believe that the state should have only minimal involvement in society. 
  • state intervention in areas such as family life, income support, education and health care robs people of their freedom to make their own choices and undermines their sense of responsibility.
  • leads to greater social problems, such as crime and delinquency.
• Murray - perverse incentives

  • argues generous benefits leads to perverse incentives, wearing families self reliance
  • encourage growth of dependency culture
• breakdown Britain report

  • conservative think tank, social justice policy group
  • propose range of new social policies aimed at the family
  • e.g marriage preparation, parenting classes
  • argue the role of social policy should be to enable people to help themselves
• think tank 


   research institutes that seek to play a key role in making and influencing global, regional and national policy.
• influence of new right on polices

  • marketisation polices in education
  • zero tolerance policies
  • education reform act 1988
  • child support agency -  oversee the maintenance of absent fathers to mothers looking after children
• criticisms of new right

  • many question validity of Murrays claims about links between absent fathers and delinquency
  • new right policy's often use findings of political think tanks - not objective/ value-free research